“Oh. So you think that Kasia did something to encourage him?”
Gabe sighed. “Kasia is a beautiful woman and she knows it. She is a wonderful mother but she flirts with men of all ages and takes the flirting further all too often. She doesn’t know who the father of her third child is. She admits that she wanted another child and set out to get pregnant. But there were so many men that could have been the father by the time she got pregnant that after so many paternity tests, she gave up. The father of her oldest son was married when they were together. Their affair ruined his marriage but he didn’t care because he loves Kasia. He is wealthy and gives her enough money to support all of her children and will probably continue to support her for the rest of her life on the hope that she may one day return to him. He is not the man that she has an on again off again relationship with. That would be the father of her daughter. He is a man much like your Fuller. He walked away from her when she told him she was pregnant, but instead of just slapping her, he gave her two black eyes, a fat lip and almost broke her nose. He flits in and out of Kasia and their child’s lives and only pays child support when he’s threatened with jail.” He shook his head. “I probably shouldn’t have told you all of that. I just wanted you to get a better understanding of Kasia. She seems hard and sometimes more than a little trashy, but she adores her children and always makes sure they’re well supervised when she goes out.”
“I see. I probably shouldn’t have asked you that question, but I was curious and wanted to make sure that I have a good feeling for Eric before I put myself through working with him.”
Gabe chuckled. “You’ll be fine. And if you’re not, you can always call me. My number is on the back of that list of doctors that I gave you. Your insurance card should be arriving in the mail shortly. I put in the paperwork first thing this morning to make sure that you and the baby are well covered.”
“Thank you.”
They walked back out to the bar. Eric was flirting with a busty brunette, though she wore a wedding ring. Gabe followed her behind the bar and showed her the basics of the cash register and the list of drink prices, and ingredients for mixed drinks in a pinch. The cash register was similar to those that she had used before. She was happy to find that she had remembered the ingredients for some of the more popular mixed drinks correctly.
She felt comfortable when Gabe had showed her everything he felt she needed to know and had left her with Eric. The night went quickly at first. The business was steady and Eric seemed to serve as few males as possible. She fought an eye roll every time she saw him fawning over another woman, but the male customers that weren’t with women seemed to prefer being served by her anyway and the tips were good.
When business slowed down Eric approached her. She was sitting down in the only chair behind the bar because her feet hurt a little. She was worried that she would end up with swollen ankles. Her sister hadn’t worked during any of her pregnancies, but she had had swollen ankles anyway from doing housework and other things that required standing.
Eric smiled. “You are gorgeous. But I’ll bet you hear that all the time huh?”
“Probably not as often as you’d think.”
Eric chuckled. “You want to hear it, just let me know. I’m more than willing to tell you how hot you are. Do you have a man?”
“No. My boyfriend left me a few days ago.”
“What an idiot. We should go out sometime. I could show you a real good time.”
“I don’t want to sound rude Eric, but no thank you. You’re very attractive, but I don’t feel comfortable dating my coworkers and I don’t think that I’m ready to start another relationship right now anyway.”
“It doesn’t have to be a relationship. If you want no strings attached, I’m happy to do that too. I bet you are fantastic in the sack.”
“I’m not interested in casual sex either.”
“That sucks. You might rethink not wanting to date a coworker when you see Neal.”
Robyn smiled at him. “I doubt it.”
“Well, if you change your mind, I will be here. Anytime, anyplace beautiful.”
“Uh huh. I’m pregnant Eric.”
“Oh. You don’t look pregnant.”
“Thank you. That woman over there is giving you the eye. Why don’t you see if she needs something?”
Eric glanced at the woman who was tall and a few pounds overweight. She had dark hair that looked to have come from a dye bottle and thick glasses. He sighed. “It’s pretty sad that not counting you, she’s the best looking chick in here.”
“She’s pretty. I’m sure she’s very nice.”
Eric snorted. “Take off twenty pounds, lose the bad dye job and get her contacts-maybe. The way she is now, no thank you.”
“Do you want me to check on her?”
“No. I can let her dream.”
Robyn shook her head as he walked away. Eric was a jerk. She hoped that he was done hitting on her.
Robyn almost laughed when Eric said something to the woman and she gave him a look that could kill and got up from the bar. She approached Robyn and handed her a tip, on the condition that she wouldn’t share it with Eric.
Robyn smiled politely and promised that she wouldn’t. The woman bid her a good night and walked out of the bar. Eric chuckled when he approached her.
“What did you say to her?”
“I told her that she’d be a fine piece of ass if she’d lose a little weight; quit dying her hair and get contacts.”
“You’re an asshole. She probably has a man that deserves her a lot more than you ever will.”
“She said that she has a man and that he’s better looking than me.” Eric chuckled again. “Yeah right.”
“She probably does. Not all men are shallow.”
“Like you have to worry about that. Even when you’re pregnant guys are gonna be all over you. If you hadn’t told me no and I wasn’t a little weird about doin’ a pregnant chick, I’d be all over you.”
“It doesn’t matter whether you’re what your average person thinks of as attractive or not when a person is shallow. They see the same things when they look at you as when they look at someone they don’t consider attractive.”
Eric snorted. “You’re a little weird if you think that’s true Robyn.”
“Because you are shallow and you don’t get it. A woman like the one you were rude to, she might have more trouble turning a man’s head than I would at least initially, but wait, you know what? She’s not even a good example, because I think she was pretty. You take a woman that’s really overweight or has really bad teeth or a big nose or something that makes people want to look away from her instead of looking again, and she knows that when a man wants to be with her it’s for the right reasons or at least it’s more likely that he is. When you’re beautiful, you don’t know that a man wants to be with you for the right reasons. You might be able to turn heads but what does it matter if they just want to get down your pants or have someone that they can look good with in public? And shallow people see do see the same thing in a way, because it’s all about sex or approval or some bullshit. Their eyes may see different things and certainly find one woman to be more appealing than the next, but it all starts with the same bullshit in their heads.”
Eric shook his head. “Gabe hires women with really strong opinions. I should have known you wouldn’t be any different.”
Robyn laughed. “You should think before you dismiss a woman because you don’t look at her and get an instant hard on. Someday, when you grow up, you’ll find out that pretty girls are too damned high maintenance a lot of times. When you decide you want to settle down, do you want it to be with a woman that looks like a cover girl who you’ll always have to worry about hopping into bed with the next guy that comes along? Or do you want it to be with a woman that will stand beside you and love you and take care of you when you need it?”
Eric sighed. “Why can’t I marry a hot girl when I’m ready?”
&n
bsp; Robyn smiled. “You missed my point. I’m saying that when you judge people solely by their appearances on the surface, not only do you miss out on a lot of really great people that aren’t perfect on the outside, but you find out that people that may look great on the outside are really fucked up on the inside. Sometimes, the fact that they look so great on the outside and the fickleness of our society actually causes them to become even more fucked up on the inside.”
“Well, there are plenty of fucked up fine bitches, but how can I look at a girl that is twenty pounds overweight and yet still has no boobs and think about wanting to go to bed with her?”
“Eventually Eric, you’re going to get to a point when you can look at a woman and not think with your dick.”
“I don’t think that I look forward to that day. My dick has pretty good taste.”
Robyn groaned. “Wow, I am glad that I didn’t meet you when I was going through my phase of going to bed with every hot guy that asked me.”
“Damn. You’re so fine I think I might be able to put my aversion to pregnant chicks aside and bone you anyway. You sure you don’t wanna give it a try? You let me blow your mind once, I’m sure you’ll come back for more.”
“No Eric. If I have sex with someone while I’m pregnant, it definitely won’t be with a man that has an aversion to pregnant women.”
“Neal might like it. You might be the woman that finally breaks him out of his shell and makes him remember that he likes pussy.”
“Shut up Eric.”
“Damn, hormones are getting to you already huh?”
“No, it’s your arrogance. I’m not a bitch, and I can take you flirting with every woman that you serve a drink to that you find attractive. But I can’t take you hitting on me or talking shit about our coworkers that I’m sure is completely out of line.”
“What I said about Neal isn’t out of line. He hasn’t been laid in next to forever. He needs a woman to screw him so that he’ll remember that sex is a normal part of life and it feels good. But I’ll shut up. I won’t hit on you and if I say or do something that pisses you off just tell me.”
“Thank you.”
They got hit with a crowd again and the rest of the night went quickly. Cleanup was fast and the tips were good. Robyn hoped that Eric would stay true to his promise not to hit on her. She had a feeling that it would be hard enough to work with him as it was.
She went home and took a long hot shower. Her feet hurt. She wished that Fuller were there to give her a foot massage, that he was happy and excited about being a father. But she knew that he probably wasn’t coming home and that he probably wasn’t going to be a father of the year candidate even if he did change his mind and want to be part of their child’s life.
She slept soundly that night and didn’t dream of Gabe.
Chapter 4
Robyn spent most of her day off catching up on laundry and doing some spring cleaning of the apartment. Though Fuller had had bad habits with his socks and sometimes his underwear, he’d been particular about having his laundry done a certain way and often. So when they’d been short on money, Robyn had washed all of his clothes and not always all of hers or had sometimes washed his in the laundry room at their apartment building and had hand washed her clothes.
Looking back on it, Robyn could see more and more how people might think that Fuller was controlling. But she was tired of caring what other people thought of her relationships. She did tell herself over and over that she was going to make better choices about the man she chose to have a relationship the next time around though.
She had a long drawn out conversation with Elza that evening. Her older sister hadn’t approved of Fuller either. She shared their mother’s opinion that if he didn’t want to support the child that he’d created he didn’t deserve to be a part of his or her life. Robyn had tried to be polite at first, but for years Elza had felt like a second mother and an overbearing one at that, and she always thought that she knew what was best for Robyn. So they had ended up in an argument.
She’d angered Elza so much that her sister had taken back her offer of sending her the baby and toddler clothes that she’d offered to send her earlier in the conversation since her youngest child had just turned six. Robyn was sure her sister would have a change of heart, but she figured that if she didn’t she’d be fine anyway. She already had a lot more than she’d ever expected to have at this point with what Gabe had bought for her and she planned to shop thrift stores for more unisex clothing as time went on.
That was what she did when she awoke the next morning. She got through her morning sickness and then dressed and had breakfast. Morning sickness didn’t hit her every day. Sometimes it was every other day and sometimes it was every third day. She felt much sympathy for women that had it every day and sometimes more than once during the day.
Once she had finished her breakfast dishes, she put her shoes on and headed out to her favorite local thrift store. She marveled over how tiny the baby clothes were though of course she had younger siblings and had spent some time with her nieces and nephews when they were infants.
She picked out quite a bit and they had a great sale going on. She was able to fill a large bag for only $20. She’d bought so much that she was afraid she was over doing it, but she knew that babies grow fast and she had extra money with what Gabe had given her.
She returned home and put everything away. She ate a light lunch and then set her alarm and took a short nap. When she woke up, she took extra time brushing out her hair. She loved her long hair. It was her one true vanity, but she wasn’t sure how long the length would remain when she had an infant.
She left her apartment extra early and took the longest possible route to the bar.
She was nervous about working with Neal. She didn’t trust Eric’s opinions and it meant nothing to her when the last time that Neal had had sex was, whether it was yesterday or five years ago. But even Gabe had said that he was not your typical bartender, so she was apprehensive when she walked into the bar that afternoon.
A gorgeous guy with dark hair that was cut close to the scalp was behind the bar, listening closely to the old man across the bar from him. She knew he had to be Neal. She felt an instant attraction to him and swallowed hard as she walked behind the bar.
Once the old man had finished what he was saying, he turned to her and gave her a smile that was a little shy. “Hi, you must be Robyn.”
“I am. You must be Neal.”
He nodded. “I am. Are you pretty comfortable behind the bar? Eric didn’t give you too much trouble last night did he?”
Robyn laughed. “Well, I wouldn’t necessarily say that, but I survived.”
“He’s kind of a pain, especially if you’re an attractive woman.” He looked into her eyes and then looked away from her. “And you are.”
Robyn felt a little thrill go through her at his words. After being around Neal for a couple of minutes she already liked him better than she liked Eric. If she was going to date a coworker, she was sure that she would much rather date Neal.
“Thank you. I am pretty comfortable behind the bar. I bartended before.”
“Good. Can I ask you a question?”
Robyn’s heart started to beat triple time. She hoped that he was going to ask her out. She wanted to kick herself for wanting such a thing after what had happened with Fuller, but Neal was so good looking and she was sure that she was going to enjoy working with him. The old man looked back and forth between them. A faint smiled crossed his face. He pushed a tip across the bar, tipped his hat at them and walked away.
“Sure.”
“Rumors spread worse here than they do around town. I mean no offense when I ask you this, but are you pregnant?”
Robyn hid a sigh. “Yes. But I’m not going to try to get out of any work because I am if that’s what you’re worried about.”
“Oh no, of course not. I try to think the best of people and not the worst. If you need a break or need help wit
h something, please let me know. I’m not saying that pregnant women can’t do things, or that they shouldn’t. I just want you to know that if you need help, I’ll be here.”
“Thank you.” She smiled at him, still a little disappointed that his question had been about her pregnancy.
The customers were steady that night. Neal didn’t say much to her, but he was very good with the customers, both male and female and the tips were good. Cleanup went quickly. Robyn definitely thought that she would enjoy working more with Neal than with Eric, no matter how attractive she found him.
They locked up and he walked her to her car. She paused for a minute, almost wanting to ask him out herself. She knew that rushing into a relationship was probably the last thing she needed to do, but she had a feeling that Neal wasn’t one to rush things, and that if they started a relationship it would be one that was meant to last.
But her courage failed her when she opened her mouth to ask him out to dinner and instead she said “Do you work with Kasia much?”
“I have. She’s an interesting woman, but you don’t have to worry about anything when you work with her. She isn’t afraid to get her hands dirty. She’ll take you under her wing when she finds out you’re pregnant and probably try to do most of the work herself. She is a man eater, but she adores her children. You two will probably make an absolute killing in tips when you work together.”
“Oh. Okay. It was nice working with you Neal. I’ll see you next week.”
Neal smiled. “I look forward to it.”
She got into her car. Neal walked to his car but didn’t get in until she had pulled out of the parking lot. She sighed, wishing she could have a cigarette. But she thought that if she were this lonely only days after Fuller had left her, how bad was she going to be when more time had passed? Then again she admitted to herself as she pulled into the parking lot of her apartment building, she had a feeling that she would have had a thing for Neal regardless. Women had drooled over him all night. He’d been polite but distant to them, while still being friendly enough that they showed their appreciation in their tips.
Misty Reigenborn Romance Boxed Set Page 61